is it a fiscal cliff or a slope? how dramatic will this fall off be on january 1st? or is there going to be the decision that if this decision is not made on january 1st, we'll be fine. >> they constantly talk about a short-term agreement right now and then pushing important decision abouts entitlement reform taxes that kind of stuff into 2013. clearly we're not confronting a killer drop off, a fiscal cliff that we hear so often that will send the country careening into a recession after bees december 31st. this will play out across 2013. it's not going to happen all on one single day. it is a fiscal slope. some of the budget lines here in washington has tried to emphasize that point. but the problem is when you have john boehner and in the white house, folks like this in washington using the term fiscal cliff, it takes to become a reality and take on language of its own. >> eliot: it seems to me that there is an element of hysteria being created and used by some folks. you have fix the debt coalition that is pounding away at this terror, and then you see cmbc and th